Formed in 2007, Food Plant Solutions Rotary Action Group (FPS) creates science-based educational materials, which: identify highly nutritious local food plants, explain how to grow them in a sustainable, agroecological way, detail the nutritional value of the plants and describe why human bodies require those nutrients. The resources created by FPS allows people to better...

Formed in 2007, Food Plant Solutions Rotary Action Group (FPS) creates science-based educational materials, which: identify highly nutritious local food plants, explain how to grow them in a sustainable, agroecological way, detail the nutritional value of the plants and describe why human bodies require those nutrients. The resources created by FPS allows people to better...

Agro-input dealers are often thought to be only interested in making money any way that is possible, otherwise known as “making a fast buck.” But enlightened dealers can combine the profit motive with a concern for customers’ well-being to earn their trust and make a business that lasts.

The potential of composting to turn on-farm waste materials into a farm resource makes it an attractive proposition. Composting offers several benefits such as enhanced soil fertility and soil health, thereby increased agricultural productivity, improved soil biodiversity, reduced ecological risks and creating a better environment. While traditional composting procedures take...

The potential of composting to turn on-farm waste materials into a farm resource makes it an attractive proposition. Composting offers several benefits such as enhanced soil fertility and soil health, thereby increased agricultural productivity, improved soil biodiversity, reduced ecological risks and creating a better environment. While traditional composting procedures take...

This technology describes utilizing rooftop water harvesting facilities to increase the availability of water for domestic use and irrigation of backyard ntula/ eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) gardens. This measure allows small-scale farmers to harvest rainwater from roofs and store it in tanks, ensuring ntula production also during the dry season,...

The meat dryers are constructions of wood, metal and/or concrete, stationary or mobile, without or with a roof. For strips suspended by hooks or with a loop attached or fixed by clips, removable horizontal bars, either made of wood or metal or horizontal wire strings are needed. The following description...

This technology describes the cultivation of drought-tolerant maize varieties in the central cattle corridor of Uganda, a region particularly exposed to dry spells. The benefits and constraints compared to local varieties are shown in a cost-benefit analysis.

This technology describes the testing of multi-stress tolerant bean varieties in the central cattle corridor of Uganda, a region particularly exposed to dry spells. The benefits and constraints compared to local varieties are shown in a cost-benefit analysis.

Trash lines of organic material, composed of weeds and crops, laid in bands across the slope of annual crop fields, constitute a traditional land husbandry practice in south-west Uganda. These trash lines incorporate organic matter into the soil after decomposition and help to maintain soil fertility and control runoff. The...

The traditional way of suspending meat for drying by hanging strips over tree branches, wire or rope is not recommended; This is because meat pieces remain in contact with these supporting devices or may touch each other, and thus not dry properly in these contact areas. The following description is...

Meat drying is a complex process with many important steps. It involves animal slaughtering, carcass trimming, raw material selection, meat cutting, pieces pre-treatment, meat drying and proper arrangement of drying facilities. In addition, weather conditions must also be considered to avoid quality problems or production losses. The following technology describes...

Drying meat under natural temperatures, humidity and circulation of the air, including the direct influence of sun rays, is the oldest method of meat preservation. It consists of gradual dehydration of pieces of meat cut to a specific uniform shape that permits the equal and simultaneous drying of whole batches...

Interventions to improve the sustainability and nutrition of food can be misdirected when based on assumptions about people’s priorities and level of knowledge. When citizens have the capacity to act on their own priorities — in other words when they have agency — there is the potential to achieve better...

In Uganda, the COVID-19 youth engagement initiative promoted by FAO was launched through a network of youth champions and organizations that have been supported by and collaborating with the ICA programme, for instance in the development of the National Strategy for Youth Employment in Agriculture or in the Youth Inspiring Youth in Agriculture initiative. Watch the...

Pests and diseases cause substantial economic loss to crop farmers. Other than reducing yield and lowering harvest quality, pest and disease control increases production costs in terms of buying the chemicals to control them. Besides chemicals being expensive and not readily available, they also have adverse effects on the environment,...

Nambiro Fatuma is a single mother of 4 kids that fully depend on her. She, on the other hand, depends on her income that comes from a family farm owned by her father. “I produce bananas, maize, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, mangoes and avocados…” she says. “I once thought about starting a poultry...

Camel milk can certainly play a far more important role in the prevention of malnutrition than it does today. Growing and raising foodstuffs for the rapidly increasing human population is especially precarious in the hot and arid zones of the world. These are the very areas where the camel is...

Duckweed is the common name given to the simplest and smallest flowering plant that grows ubiquitously on fresh or polluted water throughout the world. If water is not a limiting resource the most appropriate way of using the effluent from the biodigester is for the construction of duckweed ponds. FAO's...

Fruits and vegetables are nutritious, valuable foods full of flavour. Therefore, fruits and vegetables represent an important and in many cases an under-appreciated resource that could benefit from better utilisation and exploitation in rural communities. However, in low-income countries, poor care and handling of these crops frequently result in loss...